Belgium -

Gril on a Trail – Antwerp, the diamond capital…

Gosia — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 21:15:17 +0000

It’s really hard to say how many times I’ve been in Belgium and how many times I’ve slept at the Charleroi Airport. For a long time, I regularly used Ryanair’s cheap flights, combined with the discount tickets offered by Flibco (more information here). That’s why, I’ve visited many places in the so called Benelux countries and even in France. After visiting Dutch Rotterdam – the largest port in Europe, I thought it was time to see Belgian Antwerp. I have to admit that my knowledge of this city was limited to the information that I read from the book of Economic geography, when I was preparing for my final exams in high school. The Diamond Capital While Brussels is the “capital” of European Union, Antwerp can be described as the capital of diamonds. It is estimated that around 80% of exploited, rough diamonds and nearly half of the cut ones are sold on Antwerp market. The value of the diamonds is classified by so called 4C, which stands for: “cut, color, clarity and carat – weight”. However, it is widely said that diamonds form Antwerp have an additional fifth class C – confidence. All right then, diamonds are beautiful stones, it’s said that they’re women’s best friends, but I must admit, they’re out of my league. Besides , it’s also said that one cannot buy friendship. So what can you do in Antwerp, of course, apart from window – shopping? While organizing a trip, to find the answer to this question I decided to search for information on the Internet. At first I came across a post on travel blog, where in the first paragraph was stated that Antwerp is known for many attractions “such as the station, town hall or even the shopping centre”. At THIS moment, the thought of sightseeing the train station gave me chills, and the prospect of visiting EVEN the shopping centre made me feel as desperate as tourists on holiday in Egypt without an all-inclusive option. After all, I’ve decided to face it and see by myself what Antwerp has to offer. Of course, the first place where I landed in Antwerp was the Train Station. I can only say one thing about this place: To Antwerp only by train! Indeed, I must admit that one of the main attractions of the city is the Railway Station – Antwerpen Centraal. Built between the 19th and 20th century, it is one of the largest railway stations in Belgium. It’s a place where you just have to be. The raw, marble interior of the main hall, the glass dome and the old clock make the unique climate of this place. No wonder, it;’s called Spoorwegkathedraal, which means: Railway Cathedral. Meanwhile, the other side of the Antwerp station looks completely different… What’s more, the train station is so high that the platforms are located on 4 levels. The observation of arriving and leaving trains from the top floor of the station was impressive. I felt like I was a part of the famous Tetris game. EVEN shopping centre is not that bad… The main shopping street – Meir leads from the train station to the Old Town. There are plenty of exclusive boutiques and designer shops, as well as the original stands. Here is EVEN the famous shopping centre called Stadsfeestzaal. Indeed, the interior of the centre is impressive, while the amount of decorations and gold made me think of a trip to St. Petersburg 😉 Little Warsaw But this is not the end of the city’s attractions, because in the vicinity of train station, there’s a Jewish district inhabited by Orthodox Hassids. More interestingly, this district is also called ” Kleine Warschau ” which means “Small Warsaw “. This name is not random, as many inhabitants of this district are the descendants of Jews arriving here from Warsaw, during World War I. It is worth to add that before the outbreak of World War I, Warsaw was a kind of a diamond trade centre. Walking the famous Pelikaanstraat street is like moving into another reality, it feels like time has stopped there. You can meet Hassids dressed in traditional black coats and tall, furry caps. The Jewish district is also a quarter of diamonds, and actually it’s composed exclusively of jewellery shops and diamond galleries. One can ask the question: why the Jews are excel in diamond trade and cutting? Despite the fact that the Jews have been living in Europe for a long time, they weren’t able to be fully assimilated. They work in a numerous possessions. For this reason, they’ve specialized in specific sectors of the economy like: trade, banking or diamond cutting. Hidden gems… On the main market called Grote Markt you’ll find the representative renaissance building of the Town Hall. Nearby, you can admire the Cathedral, which can be recognized by the high tower. A little further is the Museum aan de Stroom, in short MAS, which can be translated as Museum by the river. Inside you can see the exposition dedicated to the history of Antwerp. At the top of the MAS, there’s a panoramic terrace with 360° panoramic view of Antwerp. Access to the terrace is free of charge. Finish your sightseeing in one of the cosy pubs, located on the secret street – Vlaeykensgang. Although it’s close to the Old Town square, it isn’t easy to find. This is the perfect place to relax from crowded centre. Some abstraction… The perfect ending to a tour to Antwerp is Middelheim park. It’s an open-air museum where you can see numerous, interesting sculptures and various types of artistic facilities, such as bicycle skeleton, totaled car or bent sailboat. In my opinion, Middelheim is one of those points which are must, while being in Antwerp. ” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]

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Belgium, Luxembourg, France – incredible cheap traveling

Gosia — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 20:51:39 +0000

Is it possible to organize a cheap city – break to the countries like: Luxembourg, Belgium or France? Certainly! Take a look how to organize it! Low transport cost Western Europe is famous for a very good railway system but on the other hand it can be very expensive. What we should do to minimize this price? We recommend to use bus transport, more precisely Flibco! Tickets for this bus are sold on the basis: first come, first served. The prices start from 5 euro. Travelling with Flibco can be described as a VIP transport. Usually we had the whole bus only for us! These buses are very comfortable but sometimes Wi-Fi is out of order and there are no sockets. Free overnight stay Where is the best and free overnight stay? Certainly at the Charleroi airport! For instance when you arrive at 11 p.m. it doesn’t make sense to go to the hotel, when you go with Flibco early in the morning. This airport is so popular that at 11 p.m. there’s a problem to find a good place! Of course the best places are located on the floor in various nooks of the airport. There are two drawbacks: the floor is cold (but you can take a blanket) and at 4 a.m. the airport staff will wake you up. But all in all, we can say that Charleroi airport is our best “sleeping hub”. During our 3 trips, we stayed there every time for at least one night. Great location This famous airport is a perfect place for start a lot of trips. Option 1: Charleroi – Brussels – Charleroi It’s a good destination for the first trip. What is the capital of Belgium famous for? The main attractions are: beautiful Old Town Square, Galeries Saint Hubert, peeing boy and girl and what’s the most important: the best chocolates, fries, waffles and beer in the world! (more details you will find on our blog soon). From Charleroi, you can go there with Brussels City Shuttle (it’s a part of the Flibco). It stops at Bruxelles – Midi. To get to the city center from the stop – Gare du Midi take a tram no. 4 (direction Gare Du Nord) or 3 (direction Esplanade) and get off at Bourse stop. One way ticket costs 2,10 euro (you can also buy a daily ticket). Trip planner Tickets How much does it cost? Flight – 20 euro (you can find cheaper deal) Charleroi airport lodging – 0 euro Return bus ticket (Flibco) to Brussels – 10 euro Public transport in Brussels – 4,20 euro Accommodation in Brussels (one night) – 28 euro Full cost per person: 62 euro Option 2: Charleroi – Ghent – Bruges – Charleroi It’s a very interesting weekend trip. Bruges known as Flemish Venice is famous for picturesque canals, beautiful architecture and unfortunately tourists crowds (soon on our blog). Flibco stops at the train station. To get to the city center, get on the bus no. 6 or 16 (in the direction – St. Kruis) and get off at the Brugge Kruispoort stop. There are some interesting windmills. To get to the main square – so called Burg, walk around 1 km or use these bus lines. One way ticket costs 3 euro. Trip planner Tickets Additionally it’s well worth visiting less crowded Ghent (learn more here). To get there take a train from Brugge to Ghent Dampoort (direct trains are available). Here you can find trip planner. Ticket costs 6,5 euro. From the station go about 1 km to the city center. How to return from Ghent to Charleroi airport? By Flibco, obviously! How much does it cost? Flight – 20 euro Charleroi airport lodging – 0 euro Flibco to Bruges – 5 euro Public transport in Bruges – 3 euro Train to Ghent – 6,5 euro Accommodation in Ghent – around 20 euro Flibco to Charleroi – 5 euro Full cost per person 60 euro Option 3: Charleroi – Metz – Luksembourg – Vianden – Luxembourg – Charleroi Flibco stops at Avenue Foch, in the center of French city – Metz. Main attractions can be easily reached on foot (more details on our blog soon). The cheapest option to get to Luxembourg is you know what… Flibco. Unfortunately it stops at the Luxembourg airport. The bus from the airport to the city center costs 2 euro and on Saturdays public transport in Luxembourg City is free. (more information about this city you will find here soon) Here you can find buses from the airport to the city center. Luxembourg is famous for beautiful castles. We’re able to visit only one in Vianden because we didn’t have much time (soon on the blog). Daily train ticket costs only 4 euro. To get to Vianden you need to get on train from Gare Centrale to Ettelbruck. There’s a bus no 570 from Ettlebruck to Vianden (it stops close to the train station). Get off the bus at the stop next to the canal with fountain. Transport by bus is included in the train ticket price. Trip planner How much does it cost? Flight – 20 euro Charleroi airport lodging – 0 euro Flibco to Metz – 5 euro Flibco to Luxembourg – 5 euro Transport from the airport to the city center – 2 euro Accommodation in Luxembourg – 38 euro Daily train ticket – 4 euro Flibco from Luxembourg to Charleroi – 5 euro Total cost per person: 80 euro There’s also option 4: Charleroi – Lille – Charleroi, we hope that we’ll visit it soon. It’s not the end. Flibco operates also in Portugal or Germany. Here’s the full list of stops. As you can see the sky is the limit! ” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]

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Ghent – beautiful Belgian „Venice” in the shade of Bruges

Gosia — Fri, 10 Jul 2015 22:55:56 +0000

We visited Ghent on the way from Antwerp to Bruges. Once again, reality proved us that it’s worth relying on gut instinct and going off the beaten track. Unfortunately Ghent is in the shade of touristic Bruges, but in our humble opinion its architecture and monuments are beautiful as well. What is more, the atmosphere of the typical Belgian city which stuck in a time warp , makes Ghent unique. Everything the best in Europe you can find here! Beautifully cobbled lanes, surrounded by decorated townhouses, picturesque canals or castles which hide interesting history. Picture – perfect canals resemble those from Amsterdam or Venice, on the other hand sacral architecture connotes Paris. We started our trip from Vrijdagmarkt – popular flea market. There you can find a wide range of antiques, clothes, postcards and books. It’s definitely the place for bric-a-brac lovers. Close to the Vrijdagmarkt is 95-m high Old Town Tower (called Belfry or Belfort). It’s the symbol of autonomy and wealth of the city. It was used for warning purposes. Now it’s one of 56 such buildings located in Belgium and France and listed in UNESCO World Heritage Sites. From the top of this tower, there’s a beautiful view of medieval Ghent and two nearby churches: St. Nicolas’ and St. Bavo’s. The Town Hall also consists of two other buildings: Lakenhal clothes halls and Mammelokker, which in translation means nursing breast. Obviously this name is not only connected with admiration for women’s attributes. It’s derived from Roman legend about Simon who was condemned to death by famishment. He was salvaged by his daughter but the rest you can add by yourselves. Above the entrance there’s a relief referring to this legend. Just behind the St. Bavo’s Cathedral we can see a castle ominously called The Gerard Devil’s (Geraard Duivelsteen). Some of its functions were indeed a devil’s invention. There was a school, prison or psychiatric hospital. There was also an orphanage, seminary and fire service. In the heart of the city, on the Lys river are placed beautiful lanes: Graslei and Korenlei which with St. Michael’s bridge are the most picturesque and touristic part of the city. We were also impressed by intimidating Gravensteen Castle. In former times there were: residence of Flanders earls, mint, spinning mill and tribunal of justice which in fact was a place of atrocious tortures. It’s worth visiting ravishing, medieval district – Petershol. To my mind it presents so called Venetian paradox. Although its central location there are no tourists. Ghent is also a place for graffiti lovers where on Werregarenstraat street, they can find their paradise.

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